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An anonymous reader writes "Building off the design mandates of CALEA, the FBI has constructed a 'point-and-click surveillance system' that creates instant wiretaps on almost any communications device. A thousand pages of restricted documents released under the Freedom of Information Act were required to determine the veracity of this clandestine project, Wired News reports. Called the Digital Collection System Network, it connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet-telephony providers and cellular companies. It is intricately woven into the nation's telecom infrastructure. From the article: 'FBI wiretapping rooms in field offices and undercover locations around the country are connected through a private, encrypted backbone that is separated from the internet. Sprint runs it on the government's behalf. The network allows an FBI agent in New York, for example, to remotely set up a wiretap on a cell phone based in Sacramento, California, and immediately learn the phone's location, then begin receiving conversations, text messages and voicemail pass codes in New York. With a few keystrokes, the agent can route the recordings to language specialists for translation.'"

CmpEng (1123811) writes "ROME, Italy — Researchers studying Iceman, the 5,000-year-old mummy found frozen in the Italian Alps, have come up with a new theory for how he died, saying he died from head trauma, not by bleeding to death from an arrow.
Just two months ago, researchers in Switzerland published an article in the Journal of Archeological Science saying the mummy — also known as Oetzi — had died after the arrow tore a hole in an artery beneath his left collarbone, leading to massive loss of blood, shock and heart attack."Link to Original Source

CmpEng writes ""NEW DENVER, B.C. [Canada] — To some residents of New Denver, the greatest threat to their way of life is not terrorism, but cellphones.
Citing concerns over health and a change of culture, about 250 people — roughly half the population of the southeastern B.C. village — are petitioning against Telus's plan to install an antenna and bring cellphone service to the community.
'People come here because in New Denver it feels like you're living 50 years ago and we would lose that if we had an influx of cellphones. Our teenagers would all start using them,' said Julia Greenlaw, chairwoman of the Healthy Housing Society.""Link to Original Source